Decision to hire Kurt Busch finally pays off for Stewart-Haas Racing

Don Coble

Monday

Feb 27, 2017 at 5:58 PM

DAYTONA BEACH | Tony Stewart was just starting a difficult rehabilitation in 2013, three weeks after a gruesome sprint car accident, when his business partner, Gene Haas, pulled rank and expanded their Stewart-Haas Racing organization to four teams.

Stewart didn’t want a new team or Haas’ pick of Kurt Busch as the driver. But he was in no shape with two broken bones in his right leg to put up a fight.

Haas laughed when he said Stewart had two choices back then – accept the expansion or else.

"I don’t think Tony was exactly enthralled with what I did," he said. "But I think he saw it my way, you know. Either that or get out of the building."

Stewart stayed. So did Busch.

Haas’ conviction, Busch’s purpose and Stewart’s acceptance converged in a magical place Sunday night – Victory Lane at the Daytona International Speedway.

While the journey clearly has its share of ups and downs, it led to a dramatic Daytona 500 win. While most drivers on Sunday were sidelined by several big crashes or running out of gas in the final laps, Busch kept his No. 14 Ford pointed toward the finish line to give Haas and Stewart their first win as car owners in NASCAR’s biggest race.

From the start, it was grouping that created more debate than trophies.

Busch won the 2004 Cup Series championship, but he was fired a year later by car owner Jack Roush following his arrest near Phoenix for running a stop sign.

Busch then drove for Roger Penske, and his employment ended abruptly after the 2011 season.

In 2012 Busch was suspended for one race after he swore at a reporter. He was demoted to second-tier teams Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing before Haas resurrected his career with a new offer.

"It wasn’t really a big leap of faith on my part," Haas said in 2013. "I knew he had gone through a little bit of a transition out of Penske. I knew he had the talent to do it.

"Like I say, I wasn’t interested in points racing, I was interested in winning. I thought he could deliver that. And he has done that. I knew he had the ability to do it. That was really the basis for my decision."

There were more than a few bumps once Busch got to Stewart-Haas. Chief among them: He was suspended for three races in 2015 after a former girlfriend accused him of domestic violence. Investigators in Dover, Del., never charged him, and he eventually was allowed to resume is driving duties.

Haas said he never wavered in his support of Busch.

"It looks like, [Sunday], it all paid off," Haas said.

Busch stayed near the front – and in contention – during the final 48 laps. He faked a pass to the left on race leader Kyle Larson on the final lap, and when Larson moved left to block, Busch veered to the right – and into the lead that lasted all the way to the checkered flag.

Larson actually ran out of gas on the final lap and faded to a 12th-place finish. By the time his car limped onto pit road after the race, Busch already was carving up the speedway’s infield grass with a long victory slide.

The celebration that followed lasted a long time. And Stewart was in the middle of it, soaking up every moment.

"I was watching grown men cry, guys that had worked a long time to get to that point in their career," Stewart said. "I guess from that moment on it kind of changed my perspective of how I look at it as an owner. I’ve known all along in 38 years of racing that you have to have a good group of people to get you there. I think the best part of it is when you get to celebrate with all those people."

Including Busch.

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